Info Packet
Overview
Compease, a comprehensive, automated salary administration program, provides the tools you need to ensure that your compensation program is competitive in your labor market, equitable within your organization, and flexible enough to recognize individual differences in performance.
The software was developed in 1996 by Koker, Goodwin & Associates, a compensation consulting firm. HRN Management Group has been installing and supporting this powerful salary administration solution since 1997. The program is designed to be beneficial to all types and sizes of organizations and has been installed in companies of 5 to 1200 employees.
Program Benefits & Features
Job Evaluation Ensures Fairness Within Your Organization
The job evaluation component is important to establish the relative value, or internal equity, of all jobs within your organization. Each job is evaluated based on eight compensable factors, including the degree of knowledge, skill, accountability, and problem solving required to perform the job. Based on the evaluation, the job is assigned a grade. Job evaluation is especially important when dealing with "hybrid" jobs or those for which good market data are not available.
Salary Ranges Created Reflect Pay Rates in Your Market, Ensuring Your Compensation Program Remains Externally Competitive
We constantly gather new salary information from many sources to ensure that it is reliable and current. Industry-specific data are then used to create salary ranges that are matched to your geographical location and organizational size. As a result, you can be assured that your salaries remain competitive, employees aren't underpaid or overpaid, and that you continue to attract and retain high performers.
Salary Budgets and Merit Increases Are Appropriately Controlled
Simple tools assist you in planning and controlling salary budgets and increases. Fair and objective merit increase plans are created in minutes based on your budget constraints, individual employee performance, and compa-ratio (position-in-range).
Annual Updates Keep Your Salary Ranges Current
Update disks, which include the latest salary data and revised salary ranges, are provided annually. Program maintenance is simple. Information is also included regarding the change in the Consumer Price Index and anticipated merit increase budgets for your peer group.
Job Descriptions
Pro forma job descriptions covering many positions are included.
Sound Compensation Programs Reduce Litigation Risks and Employee Dissatisfaction
Employee trust and satisfaction increase as they understand that a professional, fair, and objective salary system is in place. Pay related conflicts are reduced. Potential legal actions associated with unfair or discriminatory pay practices may be avoided.
Compease Acts as Your In-house Compensation Consultant
The very affordable, automated system eliminates the need to purchase expensive salary surveys and weeks of staff time implementing and maintaining your compensation program.
Professional Installation
Compease was designed to be easy to install and simple to maintain. Typically, onsite customization is completed in one day and included in the total fee. This includes computer setup, employee data entry, job evaluation of all positions, merit matrix determination, and salary budget analysis. We will also train your key staff so you can keep the system running smoothly.
Additional Information
The information that follows has been prepared to illustrate the primary features of Compease. Sample screen shots for jobs in a typical organization have been included. Actual salary ranges for these jobs in your employment structure would depend on your particular circumstances, the content of your job, how it is evaluated, and where you are located.
We encourage you to review this material. We think you will be favorably impressed with what the system can do for your organization.
Salary Ranges
Competitive Salary Ranges Are Established Through Job Evaluation and Sound Market Data
We all conduct our own unscientific evaluations to determine whether our pay is "equitable" within our companies and "competitive" within the labor market. If we conclude we are not being fairly compensated we have some creative ways of letting management know, including limiting our output, complaining to anyone who will listen, and finding another job. The Compease Job Evaluation System, coupled with Compease Salary Ranges, addresses the concerns of internal equity and external competitiveness.
Job Evaluation
The job evaluation system provides a logical way to establish the relative value of a job within your business. By determining the level of knowledge and skill, problem solving, and accountability associated with a job, you can establish internal equity between jobs.
Because the Compease job evaluation process is automated, it is easy to compare evaluations between jobs. This comparison validates your evaluations and provides confidence that your compensation system is internally equitable. It also simplifies the sometimes tedious job evaluation process.
Salary Ranges
Salary ranges are developed based on extensive salary data collected for selected "benchmark" jobs and adjusted to reflect local market pay practices, and your company's size, and industry. Jobs can then be easily placed in the appropriate ranges based upon the job evaluation process.
Compa-Ratios
Information for Managing Employee Compensation
Compa-Ratios are used to explain how an individual, department, or organization is paid relative to the market for comparable jobs. Expressed as a percentage of the "market rate," it provides management with the information needed to make informed decisions regarding individual pay increases and merit increase plans. It is also useful for tracking progress toward meeting your compensation goals, to identify potential problem areas, and to formulate plans to resolve them.
- A compa-ratio of 100% signifies that the person is being paid a rate that is equal to the average paid within the market for fully qualified people in comparable positions.
- A compa-ratio of 120% indicates the employee is being paid in the top 85% to 90% of the market. Long-term employees who have been in the same positions for some time and have consistently performed at the highest levels would be at the upper end of their salary ranges. In practice, few employees ever make it to the top of their salary ranges since most high performers are promoted to higher-level positions before they make it to the top of their salary ranges.
- A compa-ratio of 80% indicates the employee is being paid in the lower 15% to 20% of the market. New employees or employees recently promoted to more demanding positions would have low compa-ratios. Poor performers should be encouraged to find work elsewhere, preferably with your competition.
Compa-ratio reports can be printed by job title, department, and overall for the organization. We use the compa-ratio reports to assist in developing compensation plans and to resolve problem areas.
Annual Merit Increase Planning
The Compease Salary Administration program is designed to help you develop fair and objective merit increase plans based on your total merit increase budget, individual employee performance, and individual compa-ratios (position-in-range). Because it's automated, your plans can be developed in a matter of minutes. In fact, the overall merit pool can be changed with a few simple keystrokes, allowing you to "test out" a variety of scenarios.
This is a real timesaver. Many of our clients have purchased the system so they could stop spending untold hours each year developing spreadsheets or paper projections. With Compease, the process is done in minutes.
The system gives you the flexibility to develop merit increase plans around your own compensation policies and needs. With Compease, it is simple to develop plans by branch, department, job title, etc. The system allows you to establish up to nine different versions of merit increase plans.
HRN and KG&A also provide you with annual salary range updates on a diskette. Included with the update is our report identifying the percentage change in your salary ranges, the change in CPI for the year, and merit increase budgets for your peer group for the coming year. This information, along with your compensation strategy, is used to develop your annual merit increase plan.
Annual Compensation Plan reports are available by department, branch, company, and employee.
Salary Budgeting and Planning
Compease is designed to assist you in preparing your overall salary budget. The merit increase matrix that you develop, together with information about each employee's compa-ratio and performance rating, combine to create a comprehensive budget report. Your budgeting and planning process has never been easier.
Ongoing Support
HRN Management Group will provide ongoing phone support at no additional charge for as long as you maintain your Compease license. We have compensation professionals available to assist you with any compensation questions you may have, whether they are about the software, a job, a salary range, or your annual merit increase plan.
Contact HRN Management Group
To check pricing, make an order, or have your questions answered, contact us via:
Phone: (800)940-7522, Monday through Friday, 7:30am to 5pm MT
Online: www.hrnonline.com
Email: info@hrnonline.com
About HRN Management Group
Founded in 1989, HRN develops practical and effective HR products that are time tested, content rich, and on the cutting edge of technology. Designed by HR professionals, these practical products and services are designed to simplify and improve human resource management and regulatory compliance. HRN's commitment to product excellence and superior customer support distinguishes us from the competition.
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